


(Don't) Let Sleeping Dragons Lie

by pondghost



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Dragon Tony Stark, Fluff, Kidnapped Tony Stark, M/M, Vampire Bucky Barnes, Werewolf Steve Rogers, very tiny dragon tony
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-19
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-08-04 14:33:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16348514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pondghost/pseuds/pondghost
Summary: Tony mysteriously gets stuck in dragon form and the situation only seems to get worse when he goes missing, leaving Bucky and the Avengers to figure out who took him and how to get him back.inspired byInspired by A Lazy (Dragon) Sunday





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [A Lazy (Dragon) Sunday](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16203260) by [justanotherpipedream](https://archiveofourown.org/users/justanotherpipedream/pseuds/justanotherpipedream), [monobuu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/monobuu/pseuds/monobuu). 



> oops. read justanotherpipedream's story and liked it a lot. also, it's october so why not?
> 
>  
> 
> tumblr at [pondghost.tumblr.com](http://pondghost.tumblr.com/)

Sleeping with Tony Stark was a unique experience. As a vampire, Bucky offered no body heat (on account of being dead) and as a dragon, Tony offered quite a bit. They would always wake up entangled together with Tony curled up against Bucky’s chest and his head resting right below his chin. Bucky would instinctively be drawn towards the warmth in his sleep and the cold thankfully rarely ever affected Tony. Sometimes if the couple went to bed particularly anxious, they would gather up their softest blankets, sweaters, and pillows to make Tony a nest - something he would have never indulged in when they first started dating, but since had grown comfortable enough to do so.

This morning was not like that at all.

Bucky reached at the empty space next to him, hoping to find his boyfriend and tug him closer only to be met by a vacant bed. Which was weird once he considered that Tony would rather die than get up before sunrise. He sighed and gave into his paranoia, cracking open an eye to still see his boyfriend’s phone on the nightstand behind where a body should have been. Tony would also rather die than leave the room without his phone and now he was really starting to feel concerned.

Bucky rolled over to grab his gun, but stopped when he passed over something sharp that definitely should have been there; the surprised screech that came after caught him off guard too. Wasting no time in throwing off the blanket, he jumped to an offensive position and carefully tugged down the covers. _Oh_. It was hard not to smile with embarrassment (and relief) when it made itself evident that Tony was simply in his dragon form sleeping peacefully. That wasn’t exactly safe though because Tony was barely larger than one of his screwdrivers and Bucky could have easily squashed him.

Naps were fine, but the vampire moved a lot when he slept hours at a time and he would really rather avoid almost suffocating Tony (again) under his arm.

Moments passed as he watched the rise and fall of the dwarf dragon's stomach, his tail tucked carefully along his side as his head was resting on his (little) arms. His scales, normally a bright red, all but glowed in the dark as the light from their window reflected off them. Tony would think sleeping like this would be compromising and embarrassing, but it was the cutest and most precious thing in the world to his boyfriend. Bucky was about to grab his pillow to take to the couch, choosing rather to sleep elsewhere than wake up Tony, but the dragon seemed to have other plans when he slowly blinked his eyes open and huffed at him.

“Sorry for waking ya, babe, but I thought we said no shifting in bed? I don’t want to make a pancake outta my fella.”

The dwarf dragon practically purred as Bucky picked him up, cradling him within his hands as he rubbed his face over them. Yeah, definitely not a cat. Bucky wouldn’t hold it against them though, Tony was always more susceptible to instinct while in his dragon form and it was probably too early to even think about what he was actually doing. His instincts had always been something he was cautious about showing, no matter how much Bucky encourage him to indulge all he wanted.

“Comm'n now, please change?”

Tony responded with another huff and slinked down to his side of the bed, stretching out so he could back to his human body.

One.

Two.

Three.

Nothing happened.

 _“Why can’t I shift!”_ Tony’s voice ran panicked through Bucky’s mind as he stood up and stumbled around, claws sinking into the fabric. _“James!”_

“What do you mean?”

 _“I mean!”_ The tiny dragon arched his back, tail flicking itself anxiously back and forth as he shut his eyes in concentration. _“Something is. Wrong.”_

After what Bucky assumed was a second attempt he scooped Tony up again. “You feelin’ okay?” He seemed fine at the party earlier, showing absolutely no signs of illness or stress and if it was anything too bad, he would feel it across their bond.

_“I’m fine, I feel fine! But I can’t shift!”_

“Okay, okay,” Bucky breathed out. “Should we wake up Bruce?”

_“Yes!”_

 

And thankfully Bruce liked Tony as much as he did because Bucky had a feeling the scientist wouldn’t crawl out of bed at four in the morning for just anyone. JARVIS apparently didn’t give Bruce the whole message though as he looked pretty confused when he stepped into the lab to see Bucky hovering over Tony’s tiny form on the table.

“You guys do realize I’m not a vet, right?”

Tony let out a string of insults that thankfully only Bucky could hear and chose to translate to, “we know. But Tony can’t shift and we don’t know why.”

“I’m also not that kind of doctor.”

“We _know_ , Bruce, but you’re kinda all we got right now.”

“I figured that much, I’m shocked you’re even functioning right now after drinking half of Wanda’s … enchanted alcoholic blood?”

Bucky shrugged.

“Right, well, let’s see what we’re working with here.” Tony let himself be held while the doctor poked around his body in a way that looked like it was testing his patience. “JARVIS, can you run a full body scan and pull up any baseline data, if you have any. I’d like to have something to compare his health to.”

“Sir has no previous files stored about his draconic form, but I’ve gathered a series of references for dwarf dragons of similar stature. Shall I alert Captain Rogers of this occurrence?”

Bruce looked to Bucky for an answer and put Tony back on the lab table. Steve was the only other shifter on the team, and even though he was a lion he could possibly help influence Tony to change. The two of them (and sometimes Peter when he was around) had a weird multi-species pack thing going on and there was a chance that their connection could do more than Bruce could.

“Yeah, thank you, go ahead. Maybe Wanda too?”

 _“You think this could be magic related?”_ Said Tony, he was being uncharacteristically quiet and that was hardly ever a good sign. There were stories Bucky would read sometimes, shifters who would get trapped in one form for years, sometimes permanently -- it wasn’t something that just happened though. Trauma or extreme injury would often do it, but the last time Bucky checked nothing bad happened at the party last night and Tony's PTSD had never gotten him stuck before.

“Maybe. I think we should play all our cards here, babe, we don’t know what we’re dealing with, right?”

“Right.” Bruce nodded. “Physically, he seems fine. These charts look fine too: good bpm, brain activity, body temperature, no traces of drugs or injury…” He trailed off.

Bucky’s gaze settled from the holo-screens to Tony who was studying the charts intensely. They were a bit too high up for him to see properly though and kept backing up to get a better view of them. He nearly backed off the table before Bucky had caught him and settled the dragon on his shoulder to get a better view.

A thump on the door caught their attention, more specifically, Steve running into the door before making another attempt at entering.

Halloween was such a great night for this to happen.

“Uh … hi,” Steve said with a yawn. “JARVIS said … Tony was stuck.”

“He can’t shift back,” Bucky jerked a thumb to where Tony was still seated and discreetly trying to burrow into his hood. “Thought you could help.”

“How?” Their answer wasn't that important apparently because Steve was already stripping off his shirt.

“Uhhh,” Bruce started. “Nudge him to do it?”

“You do realize that shifters don't domino effect each other?”

_“Shifters can also usually change whenever they want too, Cap!”_

“I know, Tony,” Steve mumbled and put his (neatly) stacked pile of clothes down on the bench he was hiding his modesty behind.

“...Why can _you_ hear Tony.”

“Chill out, Dracula. We didn’t fuck, it’s just a shifter thing.”

“Oh, thank god. I really don’t need the mental image of my boyfriend and my best friend getting it on.”

_“I haven’t heard anyone say that in a long ass time.”_

“What do you-”

Steve’s rumble cut him off before Bucky could finish, the oversized lion stalking out from beneath the counter. Despite only reaching around 5’5, he was easily 400 pounds like this and Bucky would say he would definitely be more afraid of Steve’s lion about to attack him over the guy in his Captain America suit if he didn’t already know what a softy he was.

Tony decided at that moment to give everyone a heart attack and jump from his shoulder perch to Steve’s mane where he quickly scampered up to the top of his head. Bucky couldn’t hear anything, but he guessed they were having a conversation between themselves now.

“Uh,” he turned to Bruce, “Wanda coming down?”

“Yup, just give her a minute. She had a drinking contest with Natasha and is suffering the consequences of it.”

Steve carried Tony over off to the corner of the lab and deposited him on the floor. Somehow the sight of a massive lion and a dragon weighing no more than a pound didn’t worry him, unlike Bucky, Steve had never managed to step on him.

“Do you think it was sabotage, Doc?”

“Hard to say. It wasn’t like we vetted everyone that showed up last night, but JARVIS wouldn’t have let a threat into the tower and would have spoken up if Tony was attacked, but-”

“But if it was magic then it would be harder to spot.”

“Which is where this could get dirty fast. Maybe he’s just in a funk though, Wanda might not even say anything’s wrong.”

“JARVIS, is she on her way yet?”

“Yes, and if I may, I believe sir and Captain Rogers need … supervision.”

Bucky and Bruce reluctantly turned to see Steve trying to shake Tony off his mane, the dragon had clamped on with his mouth (his little arms weren’t good for grabbing) and was swinging around as the lion moved.

“Stevie, you break my fella and I break you!”

Bruce made a choking sound and was forced to spit a mouthful of coffee back into his mug.

“Sorry.”

The two shifters settled though, staring at each other in their telepathic communication.

The seconds ticked by like minutes before Steve slowly returned to his human form, leaving Tony looking dishearted at the floor. “Sorry, Shell-head.” He held out a hand for the dragon to climb on.

“Please put on pants.” Bruce all but begged from the table where he sat covering his eyes.

“The army beat the modesty out of him.”

 _“Awh, can’t he stay naked?”_ Tony shot at Bucky as he was passed off to him.

“Nope,” and just for that, Bucky placed Tony into the pocket of his sweatshirt. “Yoink.”

_“Jokes on you, I like it in here.”_

“Excuse my interruption, but Miss Maximoff is in the corridor and says she will blast the door down and go back to bed if someone doesn’t unlock it in the next thirty seconds”

“Oh, god, please let her in. We had an Iron Man incident in here last week and I really don’t want Tony’s lab to break again.”

“-And I swear.” the witch entered mid-sentence, not bothering to restart her threat. “This better be good, I demand bloody marys in-” She froze. That was probably bad. “Who _reeks_ in here?”

“Probably Steve.” Bucky supplied.

“No, like, ugly magic.”

“Oh, then probably Tony.” Bruce didn’t wait for permission before pulling Tony out of Bucky’s pocket with a small screech. “He can’t shift.”

“May I?” Wanda held out her hand, Bucky reluctant to let her hold the dragon after the pleading look Tony shot him, but hey, they had to figure what was going on somehow. Wanda was gentle though and Tony gently settled into her hand after a few strokes to his head. “Hm ... yes, I can feel something off with him. An outside force, not a curse, perhaps just an enchantment to keep him trapped in his body. It feels strong as if someone was in extremely close range when they implemented it. I cannot break it through my magic alone, there’s probably a remedy I can conjure up, but that might be about it until … Viz … comes back from his visit with Strange.”

“Oh my shit,” Bucky breathed out and enveloped Tony back in his palms. “This sucks.”

Steve shuffled back in, thankfully, fully clothed. “How long will it take you to make a remedy?”

“If one exists, a couple of days or a week. I’ll have to look through my spellbooks and gathering supplies could take a while. Not to mention how hungover I am right now.”

“Right. How about we all get a few more hours of sleep and make a plan from there when we’re all … a bit more clear headed. It’ll be easier to reach out to SHIELD then too, that is if we want to bring them into it?”

 _“Nope,”_ Tony addressed both Steve and Bucky. _“This stays in the tower, if any bozo agents find out then it will leak to the public and that’s a whole nother shitstorm I am not prepared to deal with.”_

“Maybe, but if SHIELD agents were the only non-Avengers at the party so gettin’ Fury on-”

_“Coulson.”_

“Tony-”

_“You can only tell Coulson, if Fury or anyone else finds out, no one will be getting upgrades from me ever again.”_

The dragon then wrapped itself around Bucky’s metal prosthetic wrist as if getting out of view from Steve would stop their argument.

“Tony, you won’t be able to make upgrades again if you’re stuck like this.”

_“Bucky, tell Brucie-bear that I have sixteen toes and can do what I want.”_

“I am not telling him that, babe.”

“Okay! Everyone to bed! We are not going to argue via Bucky!” Steve announced as Wanda was already halfway out the door. Bruce looked relieved as Steve hauled him to his feet. “We’ll regroup at nine when everyone is less hungover and drunk, got it?”

_“Aye aye, Captain.”_

“Night, Stevie.” Steve looked unimpressed with them but left without another anyway. The soft padding of footsteps prompted Tony to disentangle himself, scurrying into Bucky’s open palm and nestling down. “So, now what?”

_“Sleep. If everyone else gets to, then so do I. This is stupid and shitty, can’t we get one good Halloween together?”_

“I thought last year was nice.”

_“A group of armed citizens tried attacking you cause they thought you were the son of the devil.”_

“Yeah, but no one died. It was fine.”

_“Keep telling yourself that, big guy. And open up the first top drawer on the main table, I need to get something.”_

“Your hoard, by chance?”

_“No! Maybe.”_

“Not judging, I’ll sleep on the couch. Wouldn’t wanna squish ya anyway, you’re so bitty -- OW!”

Tony had bitten his thumb, not enough to draw blood, but just enough to surprise him.

“Okay, okay. You’re a big n’ scary dragon.” Bucky cooed and Tony settled atop his small pile of tools which consisted of a few wrenches and screwdrivers. The vampire couldn’t imagine it would be comfortable, but it probably put his boyfriend at ease to be next to his hoard. “I promise we’ll fix this, Tony.”

_“I know.”_


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> steve and tony don't fix problems

Sleep evaded Tony more than he would have liked, the clock was barely at seven a.m and he was completely awake. At least Bucky was still resting … peacefully hanging halfway off the with his hair spilling onto the floor. But if he didn’t question Tony sleeping on metal tools, then he wouldn’t question Bucky’s habits either.

Tony stood and stretched with a quiet yawn, trying not to disturb the sleeping soldier. Shit, how could this have even happened? Sure, SHIELD had been infiltrated with some crazy nazis a while ago, but they had not only cleaned up their act but also amped up security and screenings since then too. The chances of someone nefarious getting into the tower were incredibly low, but somehow they’d still managed to do it. No point in moping about it, he supposed and jumped down off the table. Which (ouch) was not a great idea as he fell about four feet to the floor. He looked over to make sure Bucky hadn’t stirred, but the sound was so quiet he barely reacted aside from twitching his fingers. He must have been really conked out.

Luckily, the door was opened a crack from last night and Tony quickly slinked out of the room only to be faced with two drastic decisions; either find a way to work the elevator or climb up the stairs. His goal was Steve’s room which was about three floors up from where he was; normal for a human, but damn exhausting for a six-inch dragon. JARVIS might rat him out to Bucky for escaping though, so he was forced to choose the stairs.

Tony really hoped ‘the first step is always the hardest’ rang true for every situation, because after struggling up that ledge he was already exhausted. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to be with Bucky, he just wanted to be with another shifter more. Steve would understand his situation better than anyone else, how stupid it felt to be isolated to just one form with no way out. Except, magic was involved And no one there (besides Wanda) were really in that field. Whatever, he just needed to get his help, no sense in  _not_  trying again and all.

It was annoying to even deal with in the first place though! Who cursed him? Why? What did they get out of this? If they wanted to take Iron Man out of the game, couldn’t have they just killed him or something. Surely, if Tony could get out of a cave in the middle of nowhere with nothing but some metal scraps, he could find a way back to his human form.

He stopped in front of the door realizing he hadn’t thought this far ahead. How was he supposed to open a heavy stairwell door? Luck (for once) was on his side though, the knob twitched and someone (probably Bruce) opened it to step through, the dragon easily slipping out between their legs. Thank god for health addicted scientists.

 _“STEVE!”_ Tony called out from the living room. He let his mind brush against Bucky’s to feel he was still asleep, victory.  _“HELP!”_

And obviously, the overgrown boy scout barged out of his bedroom with his shield in hand. “Tony! Where!”

 _“Down here, Wing-head.”_ Tony waved with the flick of his tail, waiting to be picked up.  _“Thought we could try peer-pressuring me back to human again.”_

“Lord, I thought you were dying or something. Don’t do that!” He huffed. “Guess I should mention Natasha cornered me last night to see what all the ruckus was, she and Clint are down at SHIELD right now narrowing down a list of suspects.”

_“If I shitty SHIELD agent did this to me, I am going to lose it. I bet Fury did it on purpose! To get revenge for changing their automated messaging system to send pictures of cats every six minutes.”_

“You were responsible for that? Why?”

 _“Don’t question me, Cap.”_ He replied, perching lazily on a pillow Steve had dropped on the floor. A few seconds passed before Steve reappeared again, this time sporting his lion form as he sat down next to him.

_“Fury might be mad at you for that, but I don’t think he’d go out of his way to get a magic user to curse you.”_

_“It’s not a curse!”_

_“...Enchantment.”_

_“Yes, I am an enchanted dragon man. Now pressure me!”_

_“Jeez, alright. Uh, think … human thoughts.”_

_“I usually do.” Steve started pacing and just to get in his way, Tony weaved between his paws with him. “I feel different today though, I couldn’t last night, but now I feel like there’s a mental block in my head. Like I’m driving and want to turn around, but the wheel won’t budge.”_

_“Huh, what’d it feel like before that?”_

_“I dunno, I was sleeping with Bucky and then I woke up like this - I just felt hungover and confused!”_

_“I dunno what you think I can do then.”_ The lion sat down behind the couch as Tony raced up in front of him, staring him down (up) from in front of him on the floor.

_“You’re co-leader of this pack, you should be able to do something!”_

_“A dragon, spider and lion is hardly a pack at all. Also, I thought that I was leader?”_

_“No, I’m the leader. Clearly.”_

_“Why?”_

_“Cause I’m a dragon and can breathe fire-”_

_“We’re gettin’ off topic! We can sort this out later when you’re less reptilian, got it? How about you just … stand up on two feet, and focus.”_

_“Uhg, fine, dad.”_ Tony used the other’s leg for support, Steve grumbling something about,  _‘you’re the one that came to see me.’_

_“Focus.”_

Right. Humans.

What were human thoughts anyway?

Pepper taking off her heels and collapsing onto the bed, Rhodey geeking out over electronics with him, Natasha trying to cook and burning everything. Clint singing badly. Bucky stretching after he gets up in the morning. Bucky making him coffee. Bucky kissing his forehead because he was a stupid idiot who didn’t know where his mouth was.

_“Tony?”_

_“This is not working.”_

_“No kidding. You good?”_

_“No. It’s early and this is shitty and stupid. I just want coffee and sleep.”_

_“Those are two very contradictory things, Shell-head.”_

_“Not in my book, Wing-head.”_

_“...You wanna sleep some more?”_

_“Why, captain, my captain! Are you trying to get a taken man in your bed?”_

_“Not a chance, I have a bet that you and Bucky are gonna get married by year’s end.”_

_“Huh. That bad?”_

_“There was a bet when you two started dating too.”_ He waited for Steve to get comfortable on the floor before crawling up his front leg and into his mane, burrowing inside of it because, holy hell, it was soft. _“Coulson won.”_

_“How dare you people bet without letting me in on it. I’d totally push things along if you split with me.”_

_“Nah, I want it to come naturally, been waiting for that jerk to get hitched for a century.”_

 

Tony wasn’t sure how much time had passed before Bucky barrelled into the common room in a very Steve-like fashion with a knife in his hand. In the other was a shoe box, which just felt insulting. He wasn’t visible within Steve’s mane though, so he decided to sit back and enjoy the show.

“Tony? Here, Tony, Tony, Tony!” The shoebox was definitely for him and the gun was probably for whatever threat JARVIS told him wasn’t there. “Come on out!”

 _“Steve.”_ He directed to both soldiers, mainly to piss off his boyfriend.  _“Bucky’s being weird.”_

_“Did you just notice?”_

“Awh, come on!”

Steve decided at that moment to hate Tony and stand up, striding over to his best friend and shaking his head.

 _“No, you asshole! Captain Asshole-”_ He stopped as a metal hand reached in to pluck him out and almost immediately cradled him to his chest.  _“Look what you’ve done!”_

“Stop wiggling, Tony! I’m gonna drop you-”

 _“Stop holding me, you are so sleeping on the couch for the next month!”_ Tony threatened but stilled himself anyway. Not because he asked, just cause he didn’t want to fall.  _“I hate all of you.”_

“I know.” Bucky nuzzled him and Tony reluctantly (gladly) returned the gesture. “But let me panic until we get this figured out, someone hurt you.” That last part came out with a growl and a showing of his fangs, but Tony was choosing to ignore it.

_“Yeah, yeah. Whatever, it’s not the first time and it sure as hell isn’t the last. Don’t you know the tower is fortified by now? I mean, I literally have a legion of Iron Man armors at my beck and call.”_

Bucky tucked his knife away into a pocket that probably shouldn’t have existed. “But what about the hundred-year-old super soldier you have at your beck n’ call, hmm? The one who was gonna make you a nice dinner to make you feel better?”

_“He better still be making me dinner.”_

“Promise not to jump outta window or something and you’ve got yourself a deal.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tumblr at [pondghost.tumblr.com](http://pondghost.tumblr.com/)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> why didnt my last update appear. i am cursed.

Steve, the godsend that he was, stuck with Tony in their animal forms the whole day. Tony spent most of it trying to force himself back than sleeping when he both physically and mentally exhausted himself. Steve mostly stuck around to watch him and make sure he didn’t accidentally set something on fire out of frustration (again), it wasn’t like he was a threat to burning the tower down, but having to put out a pillow or two was found mildly inconvenient.

Bucky had woken him up a few minutes ago for dinner, which was apparently now a team dinner on Bruce came in during preparation and enjoyed cooking too much to miss out on it since he wasn’t doing much else.

“I was trying to do Italian, but Bruce came in and now we got somethin’ like an … Italian-Mediterranean spread. Hope you like couscous, cause we got an ass ton of it.”

 _“I don’t--”_ They came into the kitchen where Tony then tried his best to hide in the sleeve of his boyfriend’s shirt. _“You didn’t tell me Clint was here, asshole!”_

“I said team dinner, Clint’s on the team -- was it not implied.” He didn’t wait for a response before looking pointedly at the archer. “You, no mocking Tony.”

“Got it, Barnes.”

“You.” Bucky turned his attention back on him. “Outta my shirt, eat.”

 _“Dick.”_ Tony mentally grumbled as he was shaken out of the sleeve and next to Bucky’s plate, not asking before stealing one of his ravioli.

“So, Tony,” Steve started. “Natasha and Agent Coulson rounded up a few suspects, think we got some good leads.”

That wasn’t worth stopping tearing apart his noodle for.

“And Wanda left earlier to grab some more … volatile things for a spell she thinks’ll help.”

_“When will she be back?”_

“Bout three or four days, She needed to head to Alaska to grab some native herbs, kinda weird, but it’s not like I know anything about magic.”

“You turn into a giant lion,” Clint rebutted.

“Yes, but I don’t … poof or anything.”

“Nah, poof makes it sound cute. Like Tony, he poofs.”

_“Jamie, tell Clint I do not poof and then stab him with a fork.”_

Tony just got nodged with one of his fingers in return. “I thought there was no stabbing at the dinner table.”

“No, that’s rule number two and there’s a list on the fridge if you need a refresher,” Bruce said, not quite dignifying them with an actual glance.

In retaliation, Tony snatched the meatball from Bucky’s fork. _“Useless, why do I keep you around.”_

“For reasons ya probably don’t want me to say out loud?”

“Please don’t.”

“Yeah, please don’t -- he looks so innocent like this like his baby ears will catch on fire if you curse.”

_“Tell Clint something will be on fire if he doesn’t shut up.”_

“Clint,” Bucky started in his infamous Winter Soldier tone. “Shut. Up.”

“Steve, I’m in danger of being stabbed!” ‘

“Bucky, don’t stab Clint. Clint, don’t tease Tony. Tony … stop growling.”

“Is that what that is?”

“Clint. Shut it.”

“Awh, Bucky, just look at him though, how could you not--”

And that was enough of that, Tony bit down on another ravioli before jumping onto Bucky’s lap and then to the floor. He made a point not to run though and instead just slowly saunter off to the elevator. JARVIS, knowing Tony as well as he did (thank god), opened the doors for him to slip through.

“Your lab, sir?”

Tony nodded, wanting to add lockdown to that suggestion, but not really having the means to do so. He was hoping Bucky was tearing them up a new one in there, or maybe not. Having a Hulk in the kitchen probably wasn’t the brightest idea. The room opened to his shop where he happily walked in, Dum-E rolling over so Tony could take advantage of climbing onto his arm/head. They’d grown comfortable in there thirty-some years together and had the routine down to a point. The bot wheeled to his not-so-secret nest and pulled open the drawer, allowing the dragon to crawl into his nest.

It was kinda sad really. It was mostly made of tools he had no use for anymore because of how dull they grew with age and some gifts he’d been given over the years, including a miniature Hello Kitty hammer, courtesy of Rhodey their freshman year at MIT and a small iridescent knife Natasha had given him. One of Bucky’s sweatshirts was also stolen weekly just to soften things up (also he liked the smell of him, was that weird?) by providing something that wouldn’t kill his back.  He had a couple thousand years left, better not to fuck over his body more than it already was.

 _“This sucks, Dummy.”_ He mumbled to the bot, even though it sounded more like a series of chirps and squeaks.

Dum-E gave his own sad beep back and Tony burrowed into his den of an oversized sweater, sharp objects, and a single ravioli. He was a practical dragon, alright. Maybe, if he was lucky, he’d wake up human so he could blast Clint through a wall.   


 

“JARVIS, just open the damn door … _please_.” Bucky pleaded to the ceiling. The A.I had upped his protective protocols since dinner and he’d been arguing, fighting the urge to just break in, to get into the lab for the past ten minutes. “You know I’m not here to pick on him and no one sure as hell ain’t with me.”

“I am unsure what to do … given sir’s condition.”

“We’ve been dating for a year! I just need to make sure he’s okay. Can you just tell me that much?”

There was no reply, maybe he should just break the window.

“Sir has just woken up and granted you permission to come in. Do tread lightly, lieutenant.”

“You got it, JARVIS.” The door opened with a hiss, Tony poking his head up from his nest as Bucky stepped into view. “Hey.”

_“Hey.”_

“You good?”

_“Depends did you stab Clint?”_

“No, figured you’d miss your video game buddy too much.”

_“Damn, you’re right. I’ll just put whoopee cushions under all his chairs or something.”_

“Sounds good,” Bucky pulled up a chair next to the table, settling across from Tony. He was far enough to give him some space but close enough that Tony could still get on his arm if he wanted. “Sorry I woke you up, you can go back to sleep if ya want, I just wanted to say I’m real sorry that this shit happened. I wish there was more I could do.”

 _“I know. It just … it feels a lot like Afghanistan…”_ He made no effort to move, just lowering his head back onto his makeshift pillow. _“That whole time up until I replaced the palladium in the arc reactor, I couldn’t shift. It felt like half of me was missing and I couldn’t get it back. Never thought I’d be there again, well on the other side of it, at least. I don’t think I’d ever gone so long without thumbs before, it sucks.”_

“Tony, I’m-wah.” A sudden beeping cut him off, a text from Natasha. They had a guy admit they were the culprit, but he wouldn’t talk anymore unless it was to Bucky. Which, okay, was weird. Usually, criminals would do whatever it took _not_ to talk to him, not to mention, the infamous Winter Soldier had an ugly track record with people who hurt his boyfriend.

The dragon was peering at him suspiciously now.

“We gotta hit. A mage who says he put something in your drink.”

_“I got roofied at a Halloween party, huh. What are they doing now?”_

“Said he would only talk to me-”

_“That’s weird, usually people hate you.”_

“Thanks.” Bucky flipped the sleeve of sweater Tony was sitting on over his head. “Barton n’ I will go down, just bother Bruce if you need something, and take this.” He put down a thin dark blade on his nest, about half the length of his body (definitely too small for Bucky’s practical purposes) and kissed the top of Tony’s head. “I’ll be back soon.”

 _“I know, good luck.”_  


 

JARVIS sent him a text saying Tony fell asleep when he got to SHIELD headquarters which left him vaguely wondering why the dragon felt the need to sleep so much -- maybe it was a growth spurt or something. He hoped not, he enjoyed being able to hold him in just his hands alone.

“Barnes.” Natasha strode up to his side, taking his arm to steer him to the left. Not the normal direction of the containment cells, he noted. Their mage must have been powerful enough toward using the charmed chambers, a gift courtesy of Stephen Strange after they protected his sanctum while the sorcerer was away. “No name yet, powerful magic, but nothing we can’t handle. Try not to hurt him too much, he might be the only one who can turn Tony back.”

“I’m sure I can manage.” They stopped in the observation deck in front of a one-way mirror, the guy was still looking them directly though. Weirdo. “Maybe.”

“I’ll cover you.” She offered their _‘I’ll obliterate the cameras for you while you do whatever you have to’_ agreement.

“Got it.” Bucky sighed and opened the door, the mage’s gaze immediately locking on him with a wild gaze in his eyes. He had a gut feeling the man wouldn’t be blinking at all. The automatic lock clicked behind him and Bucky pulled out the chair across from him, keeping his movements loose and refusing to say a word.

“Sergeant Barnes! Bucky, Bucky, Bucky.”

And that was actually too much.

“Nat, please.”

He gave it thirty more seconds of silence before speaking up, the cameras and mics were hopefully cut off by now.

“Bucckkyyyy.”

“Shut it.”

“Did you like my gift?”

“Alright.” Not a second more passed before he stood up pulling a gun from his jacket and pressing it to the other’ forehead in one fluid motion. “I don’t like this conversation.” He inched his finger towards the trigger. “I don’t care who the hell you are, I just need to know what you did.”

“I think’cha need to know more than that, Sarge.” The handcuffs holding him rattled as he leaned back.

“Explain.” The gun was pointed at his knee now, trigger ready to go. “Now.”

“Where I came from, who I’m workin’ with, who I’m working for, my mother’s maiden name, favorite color, food-”

Bang.

The confined room echoed with the sound of gunfire, nothing to catch the sound but cement walls. He was mildly surprised when the mage didn’t scream.

“Slipped.”

“Aren’t you a better shot than that?”

Bang.

The other knee.

Bang.

The thigh

“No.” Bucky waved the gun to the other’s chest. “Feel like I’ll slip a little higher next time too.”

There was no reply through the other man’s screaming and Bucky gave him a minute to catch his breath before speaking again. He wanted answers, not gibberish.

The vampire would admit it was a strange situation though, this man was clearly no professional if three bullets were all it took to reduce him to tears. The confident mask he was when Bucky stepped inside was no longer there. How did someone so unprofessional possibly sneak into Stark tower? Past JARVIS, past a team of enhanced persons, past trained SHIELD AGENTS, past _him_.

“Messing with Tony Stark was your first mistake, it would be in your best interest that you not make another.” He kicked the table out from between them, leaning in and placing his prosthetic hand around the other’s throat, not squeezing, just a resting warning. “But, please. Do.”

“You don’t want me! I’m not the guy you want!” That was fast. “Fuck!”

“Not what I wanna hear.” He curled his fingers tighter.

Bang.

Not an accident, but he really couldn't resist pulling the trigger again, the bullet passed through his side and against the wall behind them.

“Changelings! They told me to charm his drink! Fuck -- to talk to you! Fuck, god, man!”

“Me,” Bucky repeated rather than asking. “Widow.”

Natasha stepped into the room as he bypassed her out, “I know, get Tony.”

The soldier reached for his comm unit, shit, they’d been set up. They wanted his boyfriend alone. Shit. “Someone’s after Tony, need you to get back to the tower. _Now._ ”

“Who” Steve’s voice came through with a series of footsteps and mumbled words in the background. He was moving, hopefully, to get out rather than to meet him.

“Group of changelings, we’ll figure it out later.”

“I can’t reach Bruce, anyone have eyes on Clint?”

“Hawkeye here, on my way over, ten minutes out.”

Barton got there twelve minutes later with Bucky and Steve not too far behind. JARVIS wasn’t online, but the rest of the tower was still powered and fully operational. They all split up with Bucky going down to Bruce’s lab, both relieved and angered to find the doctor piddling around his studies with his headphones on.

Bruce was fine. And Tony was missing (so far, he was still hoping his boyfriend was sleeping in their sock drawer or something).

He bit his lip, fangs digging into the flesh. Upsetting Banner wasn’t probably the best idea in light of a missing teammate, so he took a deep (and unneeded) breath before tapping the lab table.

“Shit,” Bruce said vaguely startled. He dropped his tablet with a sigh and froze when he noticed how stern the vampire’s face was. “What is it?”

“Tony is missing.”

“Are you sure, he can be-woah.” He stumbled along as Bucky dragged him out of the lab.

“Tony is missing and you didn’t notice.”

“I -- JARVIS?”

Bucky let the lack of reply come through.

“Offline. Barton n’ Steve are securing the tower.”

“I might be able to bring JARVIS back up, Tony showed me some of the basics in the server room.”

“Go.” He offered a spare gun from his belt which Bruce quickly refuted before stepping out. The Hulk was probably all the protection he needed, but he’d rather the team not have to deal with that on top of a missing Tony. Bucky wasn’t completely on edge yet and he’d really rather it stay that way. The Winter Soldier had been dealt with and gone, but it wasn’t impossible to bring him back to the mindset of him and he had no doubt he would do anything to get Tony back.

“Bucky?” His comm went off with Steve’s voice. “Tower’s empty … Tony. He’s gone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tumblr at [pondghost.tumblr.com](http://pondghost.tumblr.com/)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> happy halloween, i'm currently the only person dressed up in the library and working on a PR campaign for my swing dancing club. college is fun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tumblr at [pondghost.tumblr.com](http://pondghost.tumblr.com/)

Tony woke up on the floor a lot more than he would have liked, a lot less than in his college days, but still quite a bit. The surface he was laying on was hard, steely, and cold - like his lab table - which _  okay _ , was not ideal, but he’s messed up his back sleeping in worse places before. The dragon leisurely stretched himself out only to hit his head on the side of the wall and chirped in confusion, finally prying his eyes open to see what had gotten in his way and _oh_.

Oh shit.

He was definitely in a lab. Just not his lab, none of them.

The designs and layout were completely different and all of the tech and equipment was obviously not Stark brand and he nor anyone else in his labs would use outside or incompatible resources. All the lights were off and the lack of windows really emphasized just how clueless he felt about where he was. What had even happened, Tony couldn’t even recall leaving his nest so how the hell had he been  _ kidnapped? _

He flicked his tail and the ceiling lights buzzed to life. Huh, motion sensors. At least that meant he was somewhere with some semblance of standards. Tony sat up and took in his surroundings, he was in a bird cage that would definitely classify as animal abuse if an actual bird lived in it. The lock was a simple slide bolt that could have easily pulled open (even with his claws) had it not been for padlock and chain keeping the tiny door firmly shut. Next up was the cage itself, the metal bars were too sturdy to pry them apart and definitely not flimsy enough to even bend. Now that was just embarrassing. Tony sat with a huff and took a deep breath before blowing out a stream of fire, hoping to melt the bars and then pull them apart. Disappointingly, the heat did nothing, the material was strong enough to resist his flames, which meant that this kidnapping was more planned than he was initially thinking.  Clint was going to hold this over his head forever. And Bucky wasn’t going to be any better, falling into that doting boyfriend mode every time he was put into a dangerous situation - forcefully or voluntarily. It wasn’t bad really; there were lots of cuddles and sex, yet also quite a bit of being followed around by the vampire in case Tony happened to just vanish into thin air or spontaneously combust. He wouldn’t be leaving the tower by himself for at least a month after this.

Tony wasn’t sure how long he laid there occasionally twitching when the lights turned off and staring at the lab tools that could easily demolish this place had they not been just barely out of reach. The mighty Tony Stark. Defeated by tiny arms and a bird cage. He sat up when the first sounds in hours seeped through the other room, heavy footsteps followed by quiet chatter, the door slid open with two people stepping through.

The first man was dressed in a suit (not formal though, Tony could tell it was made for mobility and the combat shoes underneath kind of gave him away too) and moved to take position in the corner. At least that ruled out some of his kidnappers, Hydra or AIM didn’t really have that look to them, not to mention Hydra wouldn’t have this nice of a lab and AIM wouldn’t have had this shitty of a lab either. That didn’t leave him with a lot of options, maybe-

“Tony Stark.”

Justin Hammer.

Justin Hammer was the one who made him lose his shitty afternoon nap, wait, no. Justin Hammer was the one who broke into Stark tower (arguably one of the most fortified buildings on the planet) and took him! What was the world coming to, he actually probably deserved this.

“You know, I can’t believe how-” the man paused, checking behind his back and then looking towards the guard in the corner of the room. “Something doesn’t feel right.”

Tony subconsciously backed into the corner of his cage, preparing for whatever the hell the man was worried about. A second later Bucky walked into the room, casually and clad in his combat uniform that Tony had recently redesigned.

_ “Bucky!?”  _ Tony mentally screamed along with a few aloud panicked chirps. All Tony could feel was hope, thank god they’d finally found him, he just wanted to go home and stop feeling helpless. The thought quickly passed him though as his boyfriend moved to stand at Hammer’s side.

There was no response.

No feeling of their minds brushing against each other.

All he could feel was the sharp stab of betrayal as he watched his boyfriend stand next to the man who wanted him dead.

_ “Bucky?”  _ Tony feebly tried once more, darting forward and leaning against the front of the cage on his hind legs. Was it mind control, had the reactivated his programming somehow - Bucky wouldn’t have left him, turned on him. They must have done something to him. All he could do was stare as Bucky remained still and Hammer’s smug smile growing by the second.

_ “Wait,”  _ Tony thought.  _ “His arm!”  _ It had to be an imposter, there was a chance Tony knew the arm he made his boyfriend almost as well as he knew the man himself. The fake’s prosthetic was definitely not the one he made, it wasn’t slick enough. Tony released a breath he didn’t realize he was holding and slumped back down to four legs. Not many creatures could shapeshift so accurately so it had to be a changeling, a rather rare species to come across and even rarer to hire for dirty work.

Hammer saw his distress fading and waved a handoff for imposter-Bucky to take his original form, a woman in an outfit similar to the first guard. She too then went to stand in the corner, as if Tony could actually get to the door, hell, he couldn’t even get out of the damn bird cage.

“That’s better, I knew I was missing something. Now we can move on, enjoying your stay? So sorry it was a bit of a surprise, but it’s not like I have a standing invitation to the tower or anything.”

What was he -- oh.

 

_ Tony rolled about his nest for a good hour after Bucky left, suddenly feeling like catering to his desire to mark everything as his. Dum-E was wheeling over in hopes of cuddles and affection when Bucky walked in the door. JARVIS hadn’t announced him, but he usually didn’t unless Tony was feeling particularly moody. The usual, “hey, babe,” or cooing never came either, rather, the vampire just strolled forward without a greeting. _

_ That was bad, that meant SHIELD didn’t come through with any good news and Bucky was going to have to tell him, “you’re gonna be stuck like this for a little longer,” when he was clearly already in the midst of going stir crazy. _

_ Dum-E let down his claw for Tony to climb onto, but before he could Bucky put his hand down on the table to cut him off, Tony noted it as odd. Not because of the gesture itself, but because it was with his flesh hand rather than the prosthetic which was his dominant. The sheer of the plates looked off. _

_ Bucky wasn’t talking and the sheer of the plates looked off. _

_ JARVIS didn’t say anything and the sheer of the plates looked off. _

_ He didn’t get a text and the sheer of the plates looked off. _

_ Not Bucky. _

_ Tony made a jump for the stool, but imposter-Bucky caught him mid-jump and held him close to his chest. Dum-E, who was clearly distressed by all this, chose to favor his creator over the lookalike and started banging on his leg, it did little good though as the bot just got a kick to the face hard enough to tip him over. Panicked, Tony sunk his sharp teeth into his hand, but only got a sharp squeeze in return cutting off his air circulation. _

_ There was no way out and he felt himself fading quickly, he just hoped JARVIS, wherever he was, would do something. _   
  


 

Tony launched himself at the bars, growling and snarling at the man who broke into his damn house! Impersonated his boyfriend! Tricked him! He already had enough trust issues as it is, thank you very much.

“Don’t feel too bad, or do. Either way, it’s not my problem.” Hammer slowly walked closer to the cage, probably taking pride in his ‘victory’ or whatever he thought this was. “I suppose you would like to know why I brought you here, but telling you tends to backfire on me every time I do it … not this time though. This time  _I’m_  the one with the tech, the power - and you. You get to sit there and be a little lizard.” He brought his hand up to the cage, which Tony promptly took advantage of by swiping the tip of his spiked tail at with a low hiss. “Ow! You ingrate!”

_ “Ingrate?”  _ Tony huffed. Not even  _ he _  was that pompous.

“You can’t even behave when you know you’ve lost!” Hammer sounded angry now. Not normal human angry, more like his mom just took away his favorite toy. How sad. Tony became less amused with himself though as the man violently shook his prison and tipped it on its side, taking Tony with it along for the ride. Tony hoped the shaking would have loosened a bolt or two, but his prison held solid as the man straightened out his jacket and turned to leave.

Before going Hammer whipped his head to the two guards, one hand cradled to his chest and the other angrily pointing at him. “Maybe you’ll be more favorable in a few days.”

Did he really think Tony Stark was going to give up that easily? No food or water was going to suck, but it’s not like he was being actively beaten or anything of that sort. This was almost a luxury kidnapping.

The trio then left without another word and the door shut with the notable click of the locking mechanism. Was it bad that he felt more at ease now knowing it was Hammer who had him because he really did. With this information, the dragon could assume they had not gone anywhere without his frequent spots (going somewhere unusual would make him stand out to the Avengers), he wasn’t probably going to be killed, and he could definitely trick his way out of here.

A huff and Tony started rustling around the cage, he had two days to make an escape plan and he didn’t intend on wasting them.


End file.
